Midnight swim
by Loopstagirl
Summary: After weeks of rescues and insufferable heat making sleep impossible, Gordon goes for a swim. But to his surprise, he is not alone.


**Disclaimer: i do not own the thunderbirds or any of the characters mentioned and no profit is being made from this story!**

**anyway, boring bit over-ENJOY and don't forget to review!! :)**

3am came and went and still Gordon couldn't sleep. He had been tossing and turning since he had turned in at around midnight, believing that he was exhausted and was after a decent night sleep for a change. There had been an almost constant flow of rescues over the last few weeks, the insufferable heat causing chaos everywhere. Whilst this was bad news for the world, it was even worse for a certain Tracy family, meaning that they hadn't been able to get a proper night sleep for ages. What was even worse was Virgil's constant worry about them not sleeping and trying to bully them into drinking more, fearing dehydration. It was enough to send anyone crazy.

Gordon rolled over again, successfully managing to throw his duvet on the floor. It had been heading that way for at least the last hour, but with one final kick of his legs, it was off. Sighing, he angrily pummelled his pillow, determined to get comfortable. The heat hadn't just caused the boys problems due to the number of call outs that they had, but also because they couldn't escape it either. They may have some of the most advanced technology on the planet, but even with the air conditioning on full, it only scratched the surface.

Staring up at his ceiling, Gordon decided that it was the humidity that was the worst. Heat he could deal with, after all, he almost practically lived in the pool. But the constant heaviness in the air was almost suffocating and even swimming gave him no escape. It was only for fear of his life that he didn't resort to pranks. Four brothers suffering from lack of sleep were not good targets. Past experience had taught him that much. In fact, Gordon swore he still had bruises from the last time he had pulled a prank on a tired John. The normally placid brother was a scary man to cross when he had been deprived of his beauty sleep.

As he watched the clock tick over to 3:05, Gordon had had enough. The adrenaline was still pumping through him from the rescue, making any option of sleep almost impossible considering how hot he was. Rolling out of bed, the red-haired prankster pulled off his shorts that were serving as pyjamas and pulled on his swimming ones. Grabbing a towel from where it had been unceremoniously thrown across his chair, Gordon tiptoed out of his room.

Creeping along the corridor with the stealth that only a well practiced joker could accomplish, Gordon stole down the hallway. Even through the shut doors, he could make out the signs that he wasn't the only restless one. He could hear the sound of both Scott and Alan tossing and turning, the sound of ruffled sheets almost trying to out-do each other from opposite sides of the hall. John's room was silent, indicating that he was the only one asleep, but Gordon wasn't so sure. The silence not only indicated sleep, but also that John wasn't even in his bed, instead gazing at his beloved stars. Gordon had never been able to comprehend how John spent all of his time _among _the stars, yet when he came home, liked nothing better than to sit out on his balcony gazing up at the heavens. From outside Virgil's door, Gordon heard him muttering to himself, clearly not awake, but not in the deep sleep that normally took over the medic as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Despite himself, Gordon was not able to stop a small smile playing across his lips as he listened to his brothers. He loved being the only one up, but with Scott's unnerving early rising and John's almost nocturnal existence, it didn't happen very often. There was no one to tell him that he was being stupid, going for a swim at three in the morning. For which he was thankful. He was well aware what both his father and Scott would say. Creeping out through the back door, Gordon breathed in deeply, relishing the cool breeze that was struggling to make its way around the island. It was definitely cooler out here than in his room. But it would be even cooler at his destination.

Almost running the last few steps, Gordon threw his towel on a nearby sun lounger with a well practiced aim, barely breaking in his stride. With an ease that he knew always amazed his brothers, Gordon switched from running into a perfect dive, barely making a ripple as he glided into his home. Pulling himself through the water with a few easy strokes, the swimmer knew why he loved the water so much. It had successful cooled him down, something that not even Brain's inventions had yet to master.

After gliding the pool's length a couple of times, allowing the water to cascade gracefully across his tanned back, Gordon flipped himself over so that he was lying on his back. Floating gently, he lay gazing at the stars, feeling at peace with himself and the world. From his position, Gordon could partially understand why John loved them so much. How much time he spent simply floating, Gordon was not sure. All that he knew was that there was no way that he had heard the almost silent footsteps, nor the small chuckle that escaped the observers mouth when he realised who was in the pool.

In fact, Gordon knew nothing at all until an almighty splash broke him from his daydream, or should he say _night_ dream. Taken by surprise, Gordon jumped about a foot in the air. Whilst it would have been comically if he had been on land, being in the water did have some drawbacks. Sinking straight under, Gordon remerged, coughing and spluttering, only to go straight back under again. He planned to let himself sink to the bottom before kicking off, but before he had got very far, felt a strong pair of arms encircle his chest and pull him sharply to the surface. Expelling water, Gordon glared at the older brother who had joined him in the water.

"And just what do you think that you are doing swimming at three in the morning?"

John smiled sweetly back at his indignant brother. He knew that Gordon was only annoyed for being caught unawares and had no intention of leaving the coolness of the pool.

"I'm not." He replied, grinning. "I'm simply swimming at 3:30 in the morning. What are you doing in here? You've been in ages already!"

"Have you been spying on me?"

His grin widening further, John glanced at Gordon in amusement. "One, it's a hot night and I know that you haven't been sleeping, so where else would you be? Two, in case you forgot, my room overlooks the pool too, little bro. I was watching the stars and then all of a sudden found myself watching a fish instead. Couldn't sleep either so thought I might join you."

Gordon merely grunted, secretly pleased to have the company. The two brothers floated side by side for a while. Words were not needed, they received enough company from just the presence of each other. John was the first one to start to sink, not having the ability that Gordon possessed.

Flipping onto his front, John started leisurely swimming the length of the pool, not unlike what Gordon had first done, just without so much grace. The cool water was a blessing, waking him up further and clearing his head. With each stroke, John found himself speeding up. Like Gordon, he was still full of adrenaline and wanted a way to burn off all the extra energy. He thought that he had made it up to a good speed, when a blur shot under him, causing him to lose his momentum. Before he had gone more than two strokes, Gordon had reached the side of the pool and back again.

"What are you two doing?"

A voice sounded out of the darkness and another shape detached itself from the shadows of the house. Virgil stepped across to the pool, grinning at the sight of his two brothers in the water. Sitting on the edge, he dangled his feet in, sighing in relief as the coolness hit him.

"Well?" He prompted them, knowing full well why they were in the pool. It was the same reason that he himself had sought the sanctuary of the cool water.

"Gordon couldn't sleep and so came for a swim. Being the wonderful big brother that I am, I had to come and supervise and make sure that he didn't drown." John stated, earning himself a snort of amusement from Virgil and a face full of water from Gordon. Of course, John couldn't let that pass and before long, the two brothers in the water were emerged in a full blown water fight, Virgil getting wetter and wetter on the side of the pool.

Eventually, John called for a truce, barely being able to breathe through his laughter. It was not a pleasant feeling considering the humidity of the air, everything felt so close. The two of them treaded water, facing Virgil so that they were able to continue their conversation about the insufferable heat and the coolness of the pool. With his back to the house, Virgil didn't see the two figures unfold themselves from the darkness. The height difference between the two indicated the oldest and youngest brothers had decided to come and join their night time fun. Gordon saw them, and felt a sly grin slide onto his face when Scott motioned for him to stay quiet. Giving John a kick just for good measure to make sure that he had received the message, the two went back to distracting Virgil.

The unfortunate painter had no idea who was creeping up on him. Like Gordon had been with John, he was too involved with what was going on in front of him to hear the footsteps coming up from behind. In fact, he remained completely oblivious until he felt a sharp jab in his back, sending him flying into the pool. After years of working in International Rescue, Virgil's reactions were scarily fast. Just before he left the side, he stuck out an arm and latched on to the nearest brother, not realising that they were both there. So it was with an almighty splash that both Virgil and Scott found themselves in the pool, much to Alan's delight. Jumping in after them, Alan launched himself into the coolness of the water, thankful for the soothing relief it provided.

*

Jeff rolled over and looked at his alarm clock, grumbling when he saw what the time was. He had been desperate for a nice long sleep, but the infernal heat had woken him, again. As he lay on his bed, Jeff frowned, something didn't feel quite right. It wasn't the sort of worry he had when the boys were off on a rescue, but the type that appeared after raising five lively boys almost single handed.

Rolling off the bed, Jeff padded quietly down the hallway. His frown only intensified when he realised what he was hearing. Nothing. There wasn't a sound from any of the boy's bedrooms. That hadn't happened for years, one of them could always be heard moving. Pushing open the first door that he came to, Jeff realised with a start that Gordon's room was empty. He quickly made his way down to the rest of the rooms, only to find that Scott's, Virgil's and Alan's rooms were also empty. Shaking his head, Jeff pushed opened the door to John's, the sight that greeted him almost expected. If it hadn't been silent, he would have said that they were all in one room, but the lack of noise made Jeff realise that they couldn't be in the house at all. Alan and Gordon could not possibly be this quiet, especially if they were together.

Jeff made to leave John's room when a sound caught his ear. Turning, Jeff frowned in confusion as he made his way out onto John's balcony. The telescope was set up in position, clearly showing what John had been doing to unwind from the rescue. But that wasn't what had grabbed the ex-astronaut's attention. Resting his hands on the railing, Jeff peered over the edge. The sight below made him laugh softly to himself. Below him, happily unaware that they had an audience, his five boys were all in the pool, splashing around as if they were only five again. The innocence of the fun touched Jeff. He knew that the last few weeks had been tough on them; the constant rescues coupled with the heat meant that he had feared that all boys were reaching breaking point. Especially Gordon, he had looked exhausted when they arrived home earlier that day. Or was it yesterday now?

*

Gordon was in the process of dunking Alan for the fifth time in a row when a voice stopped him in mid-action. He looked up to see John and Scott in an almost identical position, with John being the unlucky one and Virgil clinging like a monkey on Scott's back in an attempt to push him under.

"Do you boys have any idea what the time is?"

The five of them all looked sheepishly up at their father, feeling like they were young boys again. As one, they answered their father in union.

"Yes Sir. Sorry, Father." The identical timing of their answers threw Jeff, as it did whenever they worked in union. It was unnerving how often all five of them were thinking the same thing.

"Well, you know the rules about the pool," he continued, enjoying the look of confusion and guilt almost simultaneously crossing their faces. Of course they didn't know what he was talking about, it was a rule that he hadn't imposed since Gordon had first learnt to swim and they had trouble keeping him out of the pool. At their blank faces, he continued, trying to keep the laugh out of his voice.

"No one is allowed in the pool unless there is an adult present."

With those words, Jeff took a running leap and joined his sons in the cool water, regardless of the fact that the sun was just beginning to rise.


End file.
